Review: Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3.

I've decided to do something a little different today. Instead of trotting out more images, I thought it would be nice to do a bit of a review. I don't know if it's going to really have all of the conventions of a review, or be exhaustive, or any of that stuff. Mostly, it's just going to be me talking about a book.

Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Photoshop is a monster. A big daunting monster with a million buttons and menus and sliders and palettes. Tweak those buttons and menus and sliders and palettes the right way, and you can have the monster lying flat on its back, begging for you to rub its belly. Tweak those buttons and menus and sliders and palettes the wrong way, and the monster will chew through the best of images and lay waste to them, cranking out bit after bit of destroyed pixels.

Mostly, I'd always tweaked the monster the wrong way. I knew how to use a lot of what Photoshop could do, but the synthesis of my knowledge usually left my images a wreck.

So when I picked up Kelby's book, I was really expecting miracles. I just wanted the beast under control. I'd read Kelby's Digital Photography Book (both volumes) and I was impressed with his straightforward style, so I thought I'd see if he could help me tame the monster.

Kelby's stated goal is take all of those intimidating dialogues, and show folks like me how to harness them in order to improve our images (my paraphrase). He absolutely succeeds in that goal, and does it in a straightforward style that we've come to expect from Kelby.

I've found a lot of things in the world of photography to be less clear than they could be. I've bought light stands, umbrella holders, and softboxes, and I've scratched my head at why none of them include instructions. I've stood in front of equipment, feeling like photography was a secret cult, and I had not yet been initiated. I felt like the guy in the Ray Charles song, "Them That Got." "If you gotta have something before you get something, how you get your first is still a mystery to me."

Kelby's great strength is that he makes things unbelievably clear. Above all, I feel like this is the value of Kelby's book. There is incredibly little ambiguity. Most other Photoshop books have that moment when I stop, and realize that I'm clueless. The introductory book that I'm reading assumes that I know more about the program than I do. Kelby never assumes I know more than I do. That makes the books an incredible learning tool.

That is, first and foremost, what Kelby's book is, a learning tool. While he's got a 7-point system, his system isn't magic. It still requires skill and creativity to consistently apply his system. Editing photos with his seven steps still requires a good eye, and a judicious use of effects.

The best example is his treatment of "the Lab color move." Lab color, I found, was great for getting surprising punch out of my colors. However, Lab color can also turn photos into cartoon wonderlands where everything is oversaturated and silly looking. The skill of the artist is never removed from Kelby's equation.

Without a doubt, I recommend this book. If Photoshop still looks like a monster that chews up your photos, or even if you've begun to placate the monster, but feel you need help making him purr a little more, you can't go wrong with Kelby's approach.